Preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds: the relationship between emotional problems, parental achievement values, and comparison

Although strong parental achievement values have been associated with positive outcomes among children (e.g., academic success), they have also been connected to emotional problems. The latter effect may be the result of pressure related to such things as parental comparison of filial achievement, which appears to be more predominant among immigrant parents as compared with non-immigrant parents.Our goals were to assess the following: 1) whether higher levels of parental achievement values and comparison are found among immigrant preadolescents; and (2) whether comparison (i.e., comparing a child's achievements with those of siblings and peers) can account for the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems among the children of immigrants.The sample included 902 preadolescents between the ages of 10 and 12 years from two Norwegian cities: Oslo (79%) and Bergen (21%). Forty-seven percent of the sample had immigrant parents, and the others had non-immigrant parents. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by fifth, sixth, and seventh graders from fourteen schools during normal school hours; the questionnaires were completed after school by students from Turkey and Sri Lanka. The questionnaire included measures of emotional problems, parental achievement values, comparison, and school hassles. We used a moderated mediation model to test whether the relationship between parental achievement values and emotional problems was accounted for by comparison and to look at whether this mediation was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds as compared with their non-immigrant peers. Background and academic factors that could confound the unique relationships among the main variables were adjusted for in the analyses.The association between parental achievement values and emotional problems was found to be mediated by comparison. Higher levels of parental achievement values were associated with more comparison, and this relationship was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds. Comparison was only linked to emotional problems in preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds.This study suggests that stronger parental achievement values among immigrants as compared with non-immigrants in Norway are found as early as preadolescence and that comparison may be part of the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems

The asylum-process, bicultural identity and depression among unaccompanied young refugees

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Communal proactive coping strategies among Tamil refugees in Norway: A case study in a naturalistic setting

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An exclusive focus on individual or family coping strategies may be inadequate for people whose major point of concern may be collective healing on a more communal level.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>To our knowledge, the current study is the first to make use of ethnographic fieldwork methods to investigate this type of coping as a process in a natural setting over time. Participant observation was employed within a Tamil NGO in Norway between August 2006 and December 2008.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Tamil refugees in Norway co-operated to appraise their shared life situation and accumulate resources communally to improve it in culturally meaningful ways. Long term aspirations were related to both the situation in the homeland and in exile. However, unforeseen social events created considerable challenges and forced them to modify and adapt their coping strategies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We describe a form of coping previously not described in the scientific literature: C<it>ommunal proactive coping strategies</it>, defined as the process by which group members feel collectively responsible for their future well-being and co-operate to promote desired outcomes and prevent undesired changes. The study shows that proactive coping efforts occur in a dynamic social setting which may force people to use their accumulated proactive coping resources in reactive coping efforts. Theoretical and clinical implications are explored.</p

From Avoidance to Competence? How the Identity Project Inspires Teachers to Engage with Ethnicity and Culture with Their Students

Multicultural education highlights the need to promote students’ diverse identities, recognizing their ethnic-cultural backgrounds as resources in their teaching. However, most teachers perceive they lack competence and learning material to this end. Research suggests the Identity Project may be an appropriate tool to resolve some of these challenges. We explore both teachers’ and students’ narratives about teaching issues of ethnicity and culture in multicultural classrooms centering on potential changes from before to after teachers delivered the IP. We conducted one focus group interview with seven teachers before they were trained and implemented the IP in their classrooms, and individual interviews with them after they had completed the intervention. Data from three focus groups with 16 students from the same schools, and individual interviews with 16 other students that received the intervention are included to add perspective to the teachers’ narratives. A reflexive thematic analysis resulted in four themes: From avoidance to embracing the diversity topics, from not addressing to affirming student identities, teachers pushing for inclusion (or exclusion), using cultural background as a learning/teaching tool. Our findings imply that the IP can be a tool for multicultural education that enhances teachers’ competence in supporting students’ identity development.publishedVersio

Life Satisfaction among Unaccompanied Refugee Minors: Associations with Traumatic Events and Daily Hassles

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Når hverdagen normaliseres: Psykisk helse og sosiale relasjoner blant unge flyktninger som kom til Norge uten foreldrene sine

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Preadolescents with Immigrant Backgrounds: The Relationship between Emotional Problems, Parental Achievement Values, and Comparison

Background: Although strong parental achievement values have been associated with positive outcomes among children (e.g., academic success), they have also been connected to emotional problems. The latter effect may be the result of pressure related to such things as parental comparison of filial achievement, which appears to be more predominant among immigrant parents as compared with non-immigrant parents.Objectives: Our goals were to assess the following: 1) whether higher levels of parental achievement values and comparison are found among immigrant preadolescents; and (2) whether comparison (i.e., comparing a child’s achievements with those of siblings and peers) can account for the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems among the children of immigrants.Methods: The sample included 902 preadolescents between the ages of 10 and 12 years from two Norwegian cities: Oslo (79%) and Bergen (21%). Forty-seven percent of the sample had immigrant parents, and the others had non-immigrant parents. A self-administered questionnaire was completed by fifth, sixth, and seventh graders from fourteen schools during normal school hours; the questionnaires were completed after school by students from Turkey and Sri Lanka. The questionnaire included measures of emotional problems, parental achievement values, comparison, and school hassles. We used a moderated mediation model to test whether the relationship between parental achievement values and emotional problems was accounted for by comparison and to look at whether this mediation was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds as compared with their non-immigrant peers. Background and academic factors that could confound the unique relationships among the main variables were adjusted for in the analyses.Results: The association between parental achievement values and emotional problems was found to be mediated by comparison. Higher levels of parental achievement values were associated with more comparison, and this relationship was stronger for preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds. Comparison was only linked to emotional problems in preadolescents with immigrant backgrounds.Conclusions: This study suggests that stronger parental achievement values among immigrants as compared with non-immigrants in Norway are found as early as preadolescence and that comparison may be part of the link between strong parental achievement values and emotional problems

Own and parental war experience as a risk factor for mental health problems among adolescents with an immigrant background: results from a cross sectional study in Oslo, Norway

BACKGROUND: An increasing proportion of immigrants to Western countries in the past decade are from war affected countries. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of war experience among adolescents and their parents and to investigate possible differences in internalizing and externalizing mental health problems between adolescents exposed and unexposed to own and parental war experience. METHOD: The study is based on a cross-sectional population-based survey of all 10(th )grade pupils in Oslo for two consecutive years. A total of 1,758 aadolescents were included, all with both parents born outside of Norway. Internalizing and externalizing mental health problems were measured by Hopkins Symptom Checklist-10 and subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, respectively. Own and parental war experience is based on adolescent self-report. RESULTS: The proportion of adolescents with own war experience was 14% with the highest prevalence in immigrants from Eastern Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa. The proportion of parental war experience was 33% with Sub-Saharan Africa being highest. Adolescents reporting own war experience had higher scores for both internalizing and externalizing mental health problems compared to immigrants without war experience, but only externalizing problems reached statistically significant differences. For parental war experience there was a statistically significant relationship between parental war experience and internalizing mental health problems. The association remained significant after adjustment for parental educational level and adolescents' own war experience. CONCLUSION: War exposure is highly prevalent among immigrants living in Oslo, Norway, both among adolescents themselves and their parents. Among immigrants to Norway, parental war experience appears to be stronger associated with mental health problems than adolescents own exposure to war experience

Identity and quality of life in multicultural schools. Implementation and evaluation of the Norwegian version of the Identity Project (IP-N)

Innledning En viktig utfordring som ungdom må håndtere, er å utvikle en sterk, stabil og helhetlig egoidentitet. Egoidentitet handler om å vite hvem du er og hvordan du passer inn i resten av samfunnet. I flerkulturelle oppvekstmiljøer er ungdommers etnisk-kulturelle identitet en viktig del av deres egoidentitet. Skolen er pålagt en viktig oppgave i å fremme en positiv identitetsutvikling blant elevene, fordi dette er en rettighet alle har, og fordi en sterk identitet kan føre til god livskvalitet og psykososial fungering. Til tross for at det finnes mye undervisningsmateriell, kurs og foredrag tilgjengelig for flerkulturelle skoler, er det mangel på forskningsbaserte tiltak som er tilpasset flerkulturelle ungdommer, og som har en effekt på deres identitetsutvikling. Identitetsprosjektet (IP) er et universelt, lavterskel, manualdrevet skolebasert tiltak, utviklet i USA, som har som målsetting å fremme ungdommers livskvalitet gjennom å styrke deres etnisk-kulturelle identitetsutvikling. Høsten 2021 ble en kulturelt tilpasset norsk versjon av IP, (IP-N) prøvd ut på tre flerkulturelle videregående skoler på Østlandet. Klassenes lærer og skolenes minoritetsrådgiver fikk opplæring som kursledere og samarbeidet om å gjennomføre tiltaket. Folkehelseinstituttet hadde ansvar for å evaluere implementeringen av IP-N. Den overordnede målsettingen med denne rapporten er å få kunnskap om hvem IP-N er relevant for, og om den er gjennomførbar i norske flerkulturelle skoler. Metode Funnene i rapporten er basert på informasjon fra intervjuer med elever og IP-N kursledere, og spørreskjemaer som elevene besvarte elektronisk i skoletida. I forkant av implementeringen av IP-N ble det gjennomført tre fokusgruppeintervjuer med elever (n=14): én med lærerne (n = 7) og én med minoritetsrådgiverne (n= 5) som skulle gjennomføre IP-N på sine skoler som kursledere. Søkelyset var på hvordan skolene behandler temaer om etnisitet. I etterkant av implementeringen av IP-N gjennomførte vi individuelle intervjuer med 10 IP-N kursledere, fire minoritetsrådgivere og seks lærere. Videre gjennomførte vi individuelle intervjuer med elever som hadde deltatt i IP-N på de tre skolene (n=14). Disse intervjuene fokuserte på faktorer som fremmer og hemmer gjennomføringen av IP-N. Alle elevene som deltok i studien, besvarte elektroniske spørreskjema på skolen like før oppstarten av IP-N (n=135) og etter at IP-N var gjennomført (n=88). Resultat I fokusgruppeintervjuene kom det frem at IP-N kurslederne var bevisst på at etnisitet inngår i pensum, men lærerne behandlet temaet på indirekte måter og brukte andre ord og utrykk, fordi de opplevde at det er for komplekst for elevene til å forstå. Mange lærere overlot til minoritetsrådgiverne å undervise om etnisitet og tilhørighet. Det er ikke noen retningslinjer for hvordan temaet skal behandles, det er opp til den enkelte lærer eller skole hvordan de gjør dette. Men kursledernes erfaringer står i sterk kontrast til elevenes opplevelser av at skolen ikke behandler temaer om etnisitet, eller bare gjør det overfladisk. Elevene ønsket å gå mye mer i dybden på dette temaet, i forhold til deres egne erfaringer og opplevelser. I en fokusgruppe, der flertallet av deltakerne var etnisk norske, kom det frem stor usikkerhet rundt temaer om etnisitet. Elevene ga uttrykk for at de manglet kunnskap, ord og begreper til å snakke om dette, og at de derfor var redde for å si noe som kunne virke støtende.publishedVersio